


Birthday Gift Hijinks

by NerdsinaTree



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: Cedric and James bonding, Gen, a little friendship cedfia, birthday story, magical misshaps, takes place before 'The Birthday Wish'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-28 00:16:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20957303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdsinaTree/pseuds/NerdsinaTree
Summary: Cedric and James work on a special gift for Sofia's birthday. Takes place before 'The Birthday Wish'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little something I wrote for Sofia's birthday.

_"You're welcome to come to my birthday party this weekend if you want." Sofia said casually. Straightening a few empty glass beakers that had fallen askew upon the worktable._

_Cedric frowned softly as he added yet another ingredient to the potion, his back facing her. He appreciated the offer. But..._

_He turned to her, a smile plastered on his face. "Thank you Sofia, but you know I only attend birthday parties if the king summons me for a magic show."_

_"Alright," she sighed, "Well, if you change your mind..."_

\-----

The sorcerer sat at his table, making a poor attempt at busying himself with a spell book. That conversation playing itself over and over again in his head.

"What are you moping about?" his familiar chided.

He shot the bird an annoyed stare. "I'm not moping, Wormy!"

"Yes you are!" Wormwood scoffed, "No doubt about the princess' birthday party. Which you weren't invited to."

Cedric fumed, "I was too invited! By Princess Sofia herself, no less!"

"But _not_ by the King." the raven quipped "So you're too afraid to go."

The sorcerer gaped for a moment, as Wormwood regarded him with a triumphant expression.

"Oh!" Cedric groaned, standing up he pointed a decided finger at the book. Glaring at the bird. "Look! I've got a lot of potions to make. So if you've got nothing better to do than make snide remarks, _Wormwood_, then I suggest you do it elsewhere." Dismissing him with a wave, as he turned his attention to the cauldron.

"Hmph. Fine," the bird responded. Muttering to himself as her flew out the window "_I_ should be the one moping anyway."

Once his familiar had left, Cedric released a heavy sigh. Though he was loathed to admit it, the bird had hit the nail right on the head.

The months that had passed since he'd betrayed the royal family of Enchancia had been...difficult, to put it kindly. Though he had been granted a second chance, thanks to Sofia, the relationship between him and the rest of the castle had become rather tense. And he felt he couldn't so much as breathe without eliciting a dirty stare from _somebody_ in the castle. Be they servant or royal.

As such, he took to making himself scarce. Not too much of a challenge considering his introverted nature and, unfortunately, the nonexistent desire for anyone else to seek him out. Only leaving his tower occasionally to offer his magical assistance. Gestures that were almost always met with disdainful or nonchalant dismissal.

Of course, Sofia still came to visit him, just as she always had. Though not as often as before, on account of the busier schedule her final year at Royal Prep had afforded her, (at least, he _hoped_ that was the reason.)

Which was why he felt so bad for letting his fear of Roland, cause him to decline the girls invitation. In truth, he sincerely wanted to go to her party. Sofia was his dearest and most loyal friend. But since her father had made no request for him and his magics at the event, and given the rift between him and the other man, Cedric thought it would be best if he just stayed put in his tower.

Still, he would have liked to show his appreciation for his friend on her special day. But he highly doubted Roland would suddenly pop into the workshop to ask for a magic show at this time. Even if last minute requests were a common occurrence with the man...

There was a knock on his door, and a thrill ran through Cedric's spine. That wasn't Sofia's knock. She had already paid him a visit today.

With a bit of excitement, he hurried to the door. Unsurprised to see it open before he could reach it.

"Oh...Prince James." A strange mixture of both disappointment and relief in his tone.

No, it wasn't Roland with a last minute magic show request. But seeing the young prince did set him at ease a bit.

Cedric's interactions with each of the royal family had changed over the past few months. Mostly for the negative. King Roland wanted nothing to do with him. Which bothered the sorcerer far more than he thought it would, as he found himself wistfully recalling bygone happy days from their boyhood. Amber, who had never thought that much of Cedric to begin with, and had seemed completely unconcerned with whatever fate the king chose to bestow on him that infamous day, was content to follow in her father's footsteps. Miranda for her part, at least attempted a show of civility with him every so often. But it was painfully clear that she was still quite wary of him.

Sofia was nearly the only exception to this newfound animosity. Despite having learned of his darker nature and motives, she still continued to extend her friendship to him. And although it may have seemed like a contradiction, oddly enough the revelation of his past sins had actually seemed to strengthen their understanding of each other. Putting the two on equal grounds, so to speak.

Even so, things were a little awkward between them now as well, and it was clear the girl no longer trusted him as she had in her naivety.

And then, there was James...

Strangely enough, the young man was the only person who hadn't changed in his perception of the sorcerer. For whatever reason, he seemed to have no problem overlooking the man's failings, and going back to the way things were before. Evidenced by his immediate request for a magic show, the moment his father reinstated Cedric as the royal sorcerer.

Perhaps it was James naturally forgiving and happy go lucky demeanor; or maybe it was simply the fact that there wasn't much of a relationship between the two of them anyway...

Whatever it was, as far as James was concerned, Cedric was still Cedric, and there hadn't been any awkwardness between them since the latter's attempted coup.

"Hey Cedric," the boy greeted, "I need your help with something."

A wry smile found its way on the man's face. "Of course you do," stepping aside he allowed James to enter, "What is it?"

"I made this for Sofia's birthday tomorrow," he explained, holding up the toy carriage he had been carrying under his arm. "And I was wondering if you could enchant it a little bit."

Cedric's eyes widened, and an excited grin started. Help with a present for Sofia? Yes, that would be perfect! She always loved magic, and if he could lend some of his own to her gift...

"What did you have in mind?" Cedric asked. Trying to conceal his excitement, as he guided the boy to his that so that they could better work on their project.

"Well, I was thinking you could make it fly." James said, setting the toy down.

"Yes, yes, yes! That goes without saying," he dismissed with a hand wave. "But I can do so much better than just making it fly." Examining the carriage he hummed in thought. "I know! Why don't I conjure up some miniature flying horses to pull it."

"Brilliant!" the prince agreed.

"Yes, purple horses..." Cedric thought out loud, hardly paying attention to the boy. "Since she's so fond of the color."

"And maybe we could add a cannon to it too."

"Yes! That would be...a...a what?"

"A cannon!" James repeated, "It could shoot confetti, or maybe flowers or something."

"Oh..." Cedric rubbed the back of his head as he considered the option. "I suppose I could do rose petals." Yes, that would be perfect, actually. Considering how fond Sofia was of the _Mohit Flora_ spell.

"Well, let's get started shall we." Cedric stated to a smiling James. Brandishing his wand with a flourish.

\------

The pair quickly set to work and the results, to put it bluntly, were disastrous. Though Cedric had no problem conjuring the aforementioned horses and cannon. When it came time for the test run things went horribly wrong. The blast from the cannon proved to be far too powerful. Destroying it in a burst of magical pink rose petals, and frightening the flying horses, who frantically dragged the carriage all over the workshop. Knocking down books and potion vials, until Cedric finally managed to loose them from their reins with a spell. Allowing them to escape out the window.

At the end of it all, the duo was left with nothing but a messy workshop, and a completely unaltered toy carriage to show for their efforts.

A knock alerted them both, and Baileywick promptly let himself in. The steward blinked in surprise. Not from the mess itself, having come to expect disasters in the sorcerer's tower, but rather by the presence of the young royal.

"Prince James? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Cedric's helping me with my gift for Sofia." he explained.

"I see..." raising an eyebrow as he surveyed the damage. "I actually expected to find Sofia here instead of you to be honest. No matter though, I was looking for both of you anyway. Your parents want you in the dining hall as soon as possible. Your royal supper is about to start."

"Okay, I'll be down in a second." James assured.

"Alright." the steward nodded. Shooting a brief, distrustful glare towards Cedric, before exiting the workshop. Shutting the door behind him.

The pair stared back at the toy, now sitting rather unobtrusively amidst the mess.

"Well, maybe you can still make it fly." James suggested.

Cedric sighed, "I suppose so..." Feeling a little dejected that his plans for something grander had fallen apart.

Pulling out his wand, he started to cast the appropriate spell, "Wait..." remembering something he quickly retreated to his potions cabinet and pulled out a vial.

James watched curiously as the sorcerer poured a glowing green drop upon the toy, before pointing his wand at it. The carriage shimmered and lifted up into the air briefly. Then settled back down to its place on the table.

"What was that potion you put on it for?" James asked.

"That, was a 'last-long' potion," Cedric explained. "It lengthens the effects of any spell cast after it's application. With it, Sofia's carriage will be able to fly for hours at a time, as opposed to the few minutes this spell would normally allow for." he demonstrated, giving the toy a light toss. Watching it fly around the confines of his workshop a few times, before catching it and returning it to the table.

"That's awesome!" the prince exclaimed.

"Yes it is," Cedric agreed smugly. "Now let's get it wrapped up shall we," he then sighed as he looked around the workshop, "...and deal with this mess."

\------

The man was surprised to see that James actually stuck around to help him clean up a bit. True, he wasn't as good at it as Sofia. But he supposed it was the thought that counted.

Still, the boy was expected at dinner, and not wanting another visit from a displeased and suspicious steward, he decided to cut his time short.

"You'd better, head downstairs before Baileywick comes looking for you." he advised, placing the now wrapping and enchanted toy into James' arms.

"Thanks Cedric." the boy said, "I'm sure Sofia's going to love it."

"Mm hmm" Cedric agreed. "And you'll be sure to tell her how I helped with it, won't you?" an eager look on his face.

"Sure, no problem." James smiled. "Good night." Waving briefly as he left the tower to hide his gift until tomorrow. Then join his family for dinner.

Cedric merely waved in response before shutting the door behind the boy. He then returned to his work, a contented smile on his face, feeling much lighter in the knowledge that he'd been able to do something special for Sofia's birthday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last year one of my reviewers on FF.N, Mr. Shortman92, mentioned wanting a little continuation of this story; and I thought, Sure, I think I can do that. So here we are, what happened after 'A Birthday Wish' :)

Cedric was still holed up in his workshop, keeping busy by crafting potions and studying spells. None of which had been requested by the king, unfortunately. But at least that left him the freedom to explore on his own; and who knows, perhaps he'd come across something that could help endear him to Roland again.

Meanwhile, Wormwood had taken to roosting quietly in another part of the tower; the rain outside preventing him from venturing out doors. The bird was still a little sore from their argument a couple days prior; and the two had not been getting on as well as they used to in general ever since their mutual goal to take over the kingdom had been abandoned. Wormwood actively voicing his distaste for the decision. But Cedric figured the raven would eventually come to terms with it over time...

Despite his issues with both the king and his familiar, Cedric was in a rather high spirits as he listened to the rain pouring outside and leisurely worked on potions. His optimistic mood brought on by the memory of his gift to Sofia.

He wondered about the litte princess. She hadn't paid him a visit yesterday, and while that did concern him a little. He opted to merely chalk it up to her having had such a full busy day. Too exhausted at the end of it all to drop by. But he was confident he'd see her again soon.

_knock knock knock_

Speak of the devil.

He turned in his seat as the door opened revealing the youngest Enchancian princess.

"Hi, Mr. Cedric," she greeted with her usual smile.

"Hello Sofia, Did you have a good birthday yesterday?"

"Yeah, it was.." she paused. Seeming to think a moment. "quite a day..."

He raised an eyebrow at that, but continued on. "And did you enjoy the gift your brother and I made you?" His expression brightening hopefully, despite trying to seem aloof.

She nodded, "Yes, Thank you very much," Despite the problems the toy had caused during her birthday loop trap, she still thought it was a lovely present.

His smile widened at the words, satisfied he'd been able to make her happy on her birthday.

"Excellent, and did you happen to save me a slice of cake?" he half joked.

Cedric was surprised to see her expression darken a little "Oh, well...there kind of was no cake," she admitted

"No cake?" brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when James was showing me the carriage the two of you made for me. Rex got a little too excited and chased it into the cake."

"Oh that insufferable canine!" he fumed, "Why can't your brother control...wait..." he paused, recognizing a crucial detail in that story. One which the sorcerer found very upsetting. "Did you say it was the carriage he chased?"

She winced. Truthfully she hadn't _meant_ to relay that little detail, but it had slipped out and figuring at this point honesty would be best. "Yeah..." she admitted sheepishly. "It flew towards the cake and Rex followed it there..."

Cedric looked absolutely mortified. Rather than make Sofia happy, the enchantment he'd placed on her gift had destroyed her party.

"Oh no..." he croaked. "Sofia I am so sorry..."

"It's alright, " she answered softly.

"Oh no it's not," he argued, "I ruined your birthday party!" his expression agonized as he held a hand to his head, groaning. "Oh Merlin's Mushrooms..."

"No it's okay," she soothed. "You didn't ruin anything," but her assurances fell on deaf ears as Cedric continued his self deprecating spiral.

"No! I have to make it up to you somehow!" he insisted, holding out his wand as he desperately raked his brain for ideas. But he was panicking, which was never good for his magic, and would likely result in him feeling even worse.

"No it's okay, I smushed propeller plums on my dress!" she blurted loudly.

He finally stopped, giving her an odd look. "Excuse me?"

She sighed, aware of how strange and out of place that statement sounded to someone not in the know, but relieved he wasn't fretting any more. "What I mean is, I got a new dress from Colette for my birthday yesterday. But when I was getting ready for my party a propeller plum flew into it and left a big stain. I was upset at first, but then I got some more plums and smushed them all over the rest of my dress until it was completely covered with plum polka dots," she explained with a smile. "It was a lot of fun, and everyone loved it!"

The sorcerer kept silent, listening with interest to her story.

"I guess I just learned yesterday," _actually after a lot of yesterdays_ "that you can't stop every bad thing from happening, but you can still make the most of the good things that do. Yes there may not have been any cake at my party. But it was still fun because my family and friends were there."

A small grin finally broke out on the man's face.

"Well..._most_ of my friends anyway..." she corrected, blue eyes meeting his own.

His smile quickly faded as he looked away in shame. "Sofia, I'm sorry...I just..." reaching towards her, before sighing in defeat, and letting his hands drop to his sides. Though he wanted to explain himself, it was still too difficult.

Sofia seemed to understand though, at least a little. She had to admit, things had been odd between them ever since he tried to take over the kingdom earlier that year; and there was still a tiny part of her that feared he'd try it again.

Nevertheless, she held firm to that memory when he refused to freeze her, and helped rescue her family from Grimtrix. When he chose to forsake that dark path, and try to be the person she always thought he was.

She was thus determined to help guide him down this new better road; and though she suspected there would still be bumps along the way, she hoped that their friendship would turn out all the better for it.

"It's okay," she assured gently, taking his hand. "Tell you what, I'll forgive you for not coming to my party this year, if you promise to come next year."

A weak smile returned to his face as he sighed lightly. Both surprised and touched, by her request. She truly was his friend wasn't she?

"Alright, I promise," and he knew how much promises meant to her.

She beamed brightly at that response before adding. "Also, you might want to reduce the enchantment on the carriage when the servants finish cleaning and fixing it. Just a little." Pinching her fingers together.

He chuckled, "Alright, can do princess. Although...I still feel a little bad about your cake."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better. Mom did manage to rescure a slice for me." she explained.

"That's good," he declared hands on hips. "At the very least the birthday girl should be able to have cake. But, just for good measure."

With a flick of his wand, and his usual flair, he conjured up a large delicious looking cupcake. Adorned with purple frosting and a single lit candle.

"Here you are," levitating it into her awaiting hands, "Happy Birthday, Sofia."

"Thanks Mr. Cedric," she said. Blowing out the candle and savoring the first magical bite with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not my best written. But hopefully it was still enjoyable.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write/read something like this since 'The Birthday Wish' when James told Sofia how he and Cedric collaborated on making her gift. Also, one of my favorite episodes of the series is 'Sidekick Clio', one of my favorite parts being the James and Cedric bonding. Which I wished we could have seen more of in the series. Also I wanted to explore and share a headcanon, as to one of the reasons I think Cedric was mostly absent during season 4. At least, up until 'In Cedric We Trust'.
> 
> Well, I hope you had fun with this little birthday story. Thank you for reading. :)


End file.
